10th Anniversary Fic Contest!
by ember53608
Summary: The tenth anniversary of our beloved series is fast approaching, so what better way to celebrate it than with a contest? Three prompt-filled rounds, three weeks each to write, and three winners in the end. [DISCONTINUED.]
1. Chapter 1

Hello, everyone! I hope we're all pumped and up-to-date with the big reveal Michael Buckley made a few months ago: that he will be publishing a rewritten version of the series in celebration of its tenth anniversary! I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see Mr. Buckley fix all his little mistakes and perhaps elaborate on those moments in the books we couldn't help but question. After so many years, I'm confident that he'll do a great job and that we'll appreciate what we're given.

But - in the meantime, we have to find our own way to celebrate! I only seriously got involved in the fandom itself around a year ago, but hopefully the number of fics I've contributed thus far will be enough to warrant my holding this event. I've seen how eager everyone in the fandom is to participate in fic contests, so I'm hoping to get a good turnout! Well, that, and a bucket-load of new fics to read!

As for how this is going to work: I don't think Michael Buckley has given us a date as to when the new books will come out, but I'd like to work the contest up to that point, given that the time should be moderately long and the number of contestants nothing too measly. Basically, there will be rounds to the contest, each formatted in its own way. **Contestants will write** **one** **piece per round.** I know in some of the other contest I've seen within this fandom, that contestants were allowed to submit more than just one fic. But with the way I'm working this contest, I don't think it'd be fair for one contestant to have two chances to advance to the next round where another contestant may only have one. Plus, if every contestant submitted at least two fics, I'd have _way_ too much to read and too little time.

 **Prompts will obviously differ from round to round,** but I may also characterize rounds with specifications like focusing on certain characters, writing in different genres, etc. (Most of my inspiration for this comes from watching well-planned YouTube AMV contests, so bear with me.) Now, how many rounds will there be? I don't know. Like I said earlier, I want to work up to the release date of the new books. I know that at times it's _really_ hard to churn anything out, so I'm thinking that I'll give contestants **around three weeks to write per round,** maybe two-and-a-half if three seems too long. If the books release in October - which, if you haven't noticed, is a very popular month for books to come out - I think **three rounds** will do, with half of the competition being eliminated after each.

In terms of guidelines, I have only but a few.

 **Length per piece will be limited to 5,000 words.** I'm a senior this year, so there's lots to do and little time to do it!

No sexual depictions of characters who aren't of age, please! In fact, **I'm going to discourage sexual depictions** if they take away from the plot and don't contribute to character development. I'm looking for a story here, not smut.

 **No incest.** I don't even know if that's a thing in this fandom, but just in case.

 **No character bashing!** I'm not reading your fic just to see you torture a character you absolutely hate!

If it's not too much to ask, **decent grammar.** The stray mistake here and there is fine, but if your grammar is all over the place, chances are I'm not going to read your piece. And if this makes you feel discouraged, then **don't hesitate to find a beta!** They're available on the website for a reason - to help you!

Lastly - how many winners will there be, and how will they be rewarded? Both important questions I don't have the answer to just yet! Hopefully I'll come up with some worthy ideas in the weeks to come. And of course, **suggestions are always welcome.** The only thing I ask of you at this point is to **follow this 'fic' if you'll be participating.** That way I can get a good idea of the numbers, and you can stay updated! Depending on how many people sign up, I'll post more information next week, and hopefully we can get kicked off with this thing by the start of August, right on the dot of the anniversary!

Thanks for hearing me out! Peace, love, coven!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, again! It's been _quite_ a while since I first posted the basic details concerning this contest, but here I am again, hoping to bug you just a little bit more before we get this show on the road. So if you would, please bare with me for just a few short sentences.

Given that my presence in this fandom since last year has been sporadic, I haven't gotten to know a whole handful of people very well. In fact, those whom I do know to a fair degree have already, like the lovely, wonderful friends that they are, followed this 'fic' and decided to participate in my contest. But their numbers, along with those of a few others, only work up to a measly ten, and I'm hoping for a little more excitement than that. As such, I'm going to ask that if you've been heavily involved in the fandom for more years than me, and have gotten to know many more fic writers in this community than I have, **would you please spread the word about this contest as much as you can?** I'd like to get at least twenty people to participate, if not a hopeful thirty. After all, this won't be too exhilarating of a contest if only ten people participate! So tell your friends! Bug them about it! Make them compete with you for a prize of epic proportions (that I haven't actually thought of yet)!

 **I'm going to accept follows to this 'fic' until midnight of next Friday, August 7th.** Once that deadline comes, no matter what the numbers, I won't be accepting any further follows. Although I'll try to show some leniency in light of time zones. **Details concerning the first round of competition will be published accordingly on August 8th,** and you will all be free to write to your heart's desire! But until then, good luck spreading the word!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, guys! The time has finally come to get this event under way. I'm excited to announce that we have a whole twenty people participating, which means I'm going to have so many wonderful fics to read, aaah!

As stated in the first chapter, **half of the competition will be eliminated after each round.** That is to say, you can still participate for the entirety of the contest, since I'm by no means trying to discourage you from tackling these prompts. But in terms of deciding on winners of the contest, **if you're eliminated after either of the first two rounds, you will no longer be considered eligible to win.** Given that there are twenty people participating, by the end of this, we will have five people still writing. **First through third places will be awarded, as will two honorable mentions.** I'm still not sure on what the prizes are going to be, but if anyone has ideas, be sure to hit me up!

Now, for details concerning the first round of competition. I'm going to go ahead and get romance out of the way first.

* * *

 **The Prompt:** "So what do you recommend to encourage affection?" / "Dancing. Even if one's partner is barely tolerable." (P &P, 2005.)

 **The Catch:** Your fic cannot focus on Puck/Sabrina. I know the above quote screams them more than anything, but-! I'd like to see some diversity. Goodness knows there are so many pairings in this fandom that aren't paid near enough attention. Let's see you guys give them some love!

 **The Perk:** Even though I'm mainly deciding which ten writers will move on to the next round of competition, I will also (try to) decide on a winner for this round. That person will be given an advantage in the next round.

* * *

As for submitting, I'm going to make this as simple as possible (for me). Post your fic like you would any other, but as soon as you've posted it, **come here and post a review with your fic's title.** I'll go to your profile, find your fic, and bookmark it for reading. **The deadline to 'submit' your fic for the first round is three weeks from now, on August 29th.** I don't know how long it'll take for me to read all of them, given that this is my senior year and I'll be busy with college applications and such, but for the time being, let's say I'll take a week to decide which ten people move on to the second round. **Please pay attention to the guidelines I posted in the first chapter, especially the one concerning fic length.** This will make it easier for me to get through reading and judging.

If you have any questions concerning the prompt for this round or the competition in general, **then please do not ask using a review!** I'd like to use the reviews now strictly for the purpose of submitting fics. Please direct any questions that you have to my inbox; I'll receive an email notifying me of your message and will get back to you as soon as possible.

So without further ado - happy tenth anniversary, everyone, and good luck with your writing!


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, everyone! It's been a long three weeks, but the second round of our lovely competition is finally here. I received fifteen entries, and reading each and every one of them was a great experience. I loved seeing how each of you interpreted the prompt and chose your characters. If I only had one disappointment from this round, it's that I didn't get to see a fic about Jake and Briar. (But who knows? Will someone write it now that I've mentioned it? I sure hope so.) Anyways - on to the results of the first round!

Of the fifteen authors who submitted pieces, **I chose for eight to advance:**

Annie Carter bluepianos Curls-cat fluggerbutter IsiGrace Ms. Goodfellow OakeX Wild Child RUN

 **And the winner of the first round was. . . fluggerbutter!** You had a unique choice in pairing, and then you didn't actually classify whether or not said pairing was platonic or romantic, leaving the reader to agonize as to which it is! Man, I still can't decide, in all honesty. The line was so, so, _so_ thin.

But congratulations to all of you for advancing! And to those who didn't advance, you don't have to quit the contest! You can still write and submit pieces for the following two rounds. Though you won't be considered for the awards, I can guarantee you'll get more readers just by the activity the contest is generating. It's really nice to see competitors reading and critiquing each other's pieces. Speaking of which, if you haven't read some of the other fics that were submitted, I suggest that you do that right now - they are each and every one of them a wonderful read.

Now, on to the requirements for the second round.

* * *

 **The Prompt:** This may be a bit weird for everyone, but this round will be one where contestants face off against each other! I'll be pairing you up and assigning each pair to a prompt - whoever in the pair does their prompt more justice gets to advance on to the third round. Assignments are as follows:

* * *

 **Curls-cat & Annie Carter**

"Who wouldn't be angry? You ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years!"

 **bluepianos & IsiGrace**

"I'm going to need you to put on some underwear before you say anything else."

 **Ms. Goodfellow & OakeX**

"I can't believe I'm sitting in space jail with you of all people."

 **Wild Child RUN & fluggerbutter**

"You need to stop leaving dead bodies in my kitchen."

* * *

 **The Catch:** There isn't really a catch with this round, but, as winner of the first round, fluggerbutter does get one snazzy advantage. If she doesn't like the prompt she's been assigned, I can provide her with the full list of prompts and she can choose a new one for herself and her opponent. Although in all honesty, I'm hoping it doesn't come to that and that everyone is satisfied with their peculiar prompts! **If you are uncomfortable with yours, please tell me. I am not here to torment you.**

 **The Perk:** Like last time, the winner of this round will be given a special advantage in the following round.

* * *

Like before, post your fic like you would any other, but as soon as you've posted it, **come here and post a review with your fic's title.** I'll go to your profile, find your fic, and bookmark it for reading. **The deadline to 'submit' your fic for the second round is FOUR weeks from now, on October 3rd.** I noticed that many people were pushed for time, and I didn't want for anyone to feel pressured again. I hope that four weeks is enough this time.Also, after reading the submissions for the first round, I realized that I'd actually prefer for some of the fics to be longer. If it isn't too much of a hassle, **please try to write at least 1.5K words, and at most 7.5K words.** Though the college application struggle is real, I think I'm a fast enough reader to handle some longer fics. Plus, there's half as many writers this round.

If you have any questions concerning the prompt for this round or the competition in general, **then please do not ask using a review!** I'd like to use the reviews strictly for the purpose of submitting fics. Please direct any questions that you have to my inbox; I'll receive an email notifying me of your message and will get back to you as soon as possible.

Happy September, and good luck with your writing!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, guys!

I just wanted to let everyone know that what with the hysteria of college applications building up to a climax, I'm not going to be super OCD about submissions with this round. If I'm not going to be reading them right away, then I don't think it's fair of me to ask for you to submit them right away, especially for those of you who are, like me, trapped within the hell that is the education system.

 _So_ , to cut to the chase - I will be taking submissions for this round **anytime in October.** Anytime. Whatever floats your boat. Just please don't shirk off your responsibilities and stress yourself out because of this contest. Not only would that be bad for your mental health, it would make me feel like an incredibly guilty person. (And we all know we wouldn't want that. Guilt is so horrible for one's self esteem.)

But, yeah! Relax! Submit whenever it is convenient for you. I will be patiently anticipating the glory of your pieces. :)


	6. Chapter 6

Hello, lovelies! I apologize for taking so long to post this chapter, I had a lot going on and as a result sort of. . . forgot. Nonetheless, I do have the results of the second round ready for you. Two people ended up having to quit the competition because school was very demanding of them, but thankfully they were from separate competing pairs, so in the end, four people will still move on:

Curls-cat / IsiGrace / OakeX / fluggerbutter

Congrats, guys! Each of you did a splendid job in creating vivid storylines to fit your given quote, **although one person's piece shined out to me in particular, and that belonged to. . . OakeX!** Your dialogue was absolutely stellar and made the entirety of the fic such a roller coaster of feels! Hopefully, I can expect more of the same from you. ;)

As for the requirements of the third and final round:

* * *

 **The Prompt:** At long last, **the character study!** I really love reading character studies because it's so interesting to see how one person can interpret a character's development differently from someone else. You aren't going against each other in this round, but it'll still be interesting to see how you each interpret your character.

 **The Catch:** Unlike previous rounds, you are allowed to write about any character you would like- **however, characters are chosen first come, first serve.** If you really want to write about a particular character, then message me quickly so that you don't have to worry about not getting him/her/they.

 **The Perk:** I'm mainly going to be judging the depth of each piece. Like, there are things we already obviously know about all of these lovely characters. But what are the little things you have caught onto while reading the series that really make this character who they are? That's the kind of material I'll be looking for-not something shallow, but something that really digs into the character's foundations, etc. As for the perk of this round, **I've decided that for the first place winner, I will be writing fic for them of anything that they want! Either that, or we get to do a collab together.** I figure that both choices are quite attractive. ;)

* * *

The process for submitting fics is the same as always, and **I will be taking entries all of the way through January.** I know that people are very busy with school and then the holidays, so if you don't have a lot of time to write, just let me know! I'm not really strict with deadlines, as you can already see, and I definitely understand the pressures of the education system, lol. On a last note, **please try to write at least 2.5K words, but not more than 7.5K words.** Character studies definitely require more than the average one-shot, in my opinion, and I would really like to digest as much of your interpretations as possible.

Good luck to everyone, and if you have any questions, be sure to PM me!


End file.
